Tire pressure (Page 1/1)
donuteater306 AUG 24, 11:17 PM
Don't forget to air-up your tires. Started getting a nasty steering wheel shimmy, and the car was tough to keep straight. Seemed to happen overnight...I thought I slipped a belt in a tire. Nope. 18lbs was the highest pressure of the four. OOPS. Tomorrow i'll check the spare.
Patrick AUG 25, 01:43 AM

Did you last check the tire pressure back in '98 or what?
theogre AUG 25, 10:47 AM

quote
Originally posted by donuteater306:
18lbs was the highest pressure of the four. OOPS. Tomorrow i'll check the spare.

Bad news... If you have been driving w/ tires very low inflation... The tires likely have Major damage.
Tread and Sidewalls will flex way more the design, even sides hitting pavement while turning at minimum, will wreck them fast even if "looks ok" to most drivers.

Most blowouts and tread separations are from tires w/ low pressure now or in the past.
Even infamous Ford-Bridgestone tire recall can be trace to bare minimum cold inflation spec by Ford and people can't check that every few days. So "iffy" tires failed. Ford & MSM blamed Bridgestone but best tires will hate Ford Inflation spec for that truck.
Don't think so? Find any other car or light truck that call for < 30psi Cold Inflation. Many newer smaller vehicles call for 32-35PSI like Kia Soul. Yet Ford change that spec to 27-28 PSI...

Spare tires are likely OE and 30+ years old for Fiero...
EVEN IF the "Doughnut" hold the 60psi... They can't be trusted. All Tires "wear out" just from age and your spare is 2 to 4 times over the "lifetime limit." So even if you drive under 50mph limit shown on them (Unlikely as Most people ignore that) get off the road ASAP and find a tire shop to fix/replace the dead tire.

Old "new" or otherwise unused tires wear from UV Ozone and more in the air and can often see "rot" even buried in the car.
Car's parked on dirt/grass, tires can rot from dirt and chemicals like Fertilizers, Roundup, etc. This rot often shows up in depth groove in tread that can expose the tread belt(s).

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

donuteater306 AUG 25, 09:48 PM
Exactly Mr. Ogre. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to spring for replacements. I'm really not sure how long they've been THAT low and I don't trust them. I drive it on a few local, short trips each week. Weekends, 80-100 miles of freeway minimum. It was just this past weekend that I noticed it was unstable as soon as I got up to 60 on the freeway..no prior warning. I turned around and parked it thinking I had a bad tire. The tires were new Feb 2020. One month later I drove it to Arizona and back (approx. 1800 miles round trip). I believe the last time I checked the pressure was during the LOF Dec. 2020. CA isn't known for it's maintained roads...I thought I may have hit a pothole too hard or something. My plan is to drive her across country to Wisconsin...something i've always wanted to do and I figure, 3 days each way in a Fiero...can't be THAT bad! But I won't chance it with these tires.
donuteater306 AUG 25, 09:50 PM
Oh, and the donut spare was also replaced in 2020. NOT cheap.
theogre AUG 26, 09:59 AM
Sadly New Tires running w/ low pressure often get same damage and fast.
Example: Running flat or nearly so can shred inner layer in a mile or three. Is often why many flats can't be fix. (Other "rules" to fix a "flat" too.)

New tire(s) and low pressure in a year isn't good.
If they haven't been run thru nails glass so all are holed... They were installed very poorly, "kids" letting air out or air leaks thru alloy rims.
Air leaks thru alloy rims are more common that many think. Can fix this but takes time to do it right and need tires off during the job for hours to a day or more for sealer "paint" to fully set.
Air leaks thru bead zones can be fix by cleaning the rim and bead sealer applied to tire or need rim sealer paint like above.
Air leaks thru hole for the valve can be fix by cleaning the rim and bead sealer applied to valve rubber or using hard valve set.
I have 1 OE 14" Rim that leaks down flat in ~ 2 weeks thru the rim. Now is on dead parts car and don't bother fixing. Had 1 on another car years ago too.

Is rare when people buy new doughnuts and other spares.
When cars have full size spares, many use best of an old set as new spare. This is for people that replace tires w/ a little tread on them. Not great but better then having 10 or more year old tire. Worse for trucks etc w/ exposed spare under the back getting rock salt and worse. (W/ those, the rim can/will rot too and be useless when needed.)

Checking air is easy now w/ 18-20V battery compressors.
Many are far faster then dragging hose or more to the car and Many have auto shutoff that's fairly accurate if you haven't got an extra gauge handy.
I have older Ryobi One+ compressor/blower and nearly the only thing to "top up" all tires now. Has to be large problems for me to drag out 3gal 120v compressor now. That maybe "small" but way more heavier and bulkier then the Ryobi w/ 4ahr battery pack. (Note: If you only "top up" a set or tire then might could use 2ahr battery but any tool that can run a long time can wreck small batteries. Compressors, "weed eater" and larger blowers all fit this group.)
donuteater306 AUG 26, 12:14 PM
LMAO Patrick, 1998, 99…I can’t remember 🤣

My donut had big sidewall cracks, so a friend who owns a tire shop searched and found me a new one. It was about $150 for that stupid tire!! But I was going to be driving through a desert, so the price sounded good to me.

I actually think someone let the air out. In addition to the Fiero, my work vehicle, a 19 Charger, had one tire that was at 18lbs after sitting overnight (dashboard shows the pressure readings). Since airing it up, it’s held steady for three days now. I’m in a shared, unsecured condo parking garage. One of my neighbors asked me to help her fill her tires because two went low overnight as well. I have a Kobalt (Lowe’s) portable pump. One of my best purchases.
reinhart AUG 27, 03:37 AM

quote
Originally posted by donuteater306:

I actually think someone let the air out. In addition to the Fiero, my work vehicle, a 19 Charger, had one tire that was at 18lbs after sitting overnight (dashboard shows the pressure readings). Since airing it up, it’s held steady for three days now. I’m in a shared, unsecured condo parking garage. One of my neighbors asked me to help her fill her tires because two went low overnight as well. I have a Kobalt (Lowe’s) portable pump. One of my best purchases.



If all were right around 18 seems unlikely. Hooligan just happened to drain all four equally and then replaced caps? Most houligans would just drain one till it's nearly flat, or two, or until caught. Likely just leaked out over time without you checking or possibly tire shop never inflated to 30.